VOJISLAV SESELJ - DAY 7: ROBINSON SAYS THERE'S NO BASIS FOR THE INDICTMENT
IF MILOSEVIC ONLY ACTED WITHIN HIS POWERS
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - September 1, 2005
Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
Vojislav Seselj continued to testify at the trial of Slobodan Milosevic on
Thursday. The leader of the Serbian Radical Party reiterated his testimony
that neither Serbia nor Slobodan Milosevic controlled the Yugoslav People's
Army (JNA). He said that Milosevic bitterly opposed paramilitary formations
and that Serbia prosecuted scores of illegal paramilitary fighters.
The prosecution claims that the JNA imprisoned POWs and tortured them at
camps inside Serbia. Seselj testified that he never heard of a single case
of the JNA torturing POWs. He also denied that the JNA forcibly deported
people.
Judge Robinson made an interesting remark during Seselj's testimony today.
He said that it was not enough for Seselj to testify about Milosevic's
de-jure position, but that he must testify about the de-facto position.
Robinson admitted that if Milosevic acted within the limits of his office,
then there would be no basis for the indictment. Seselj guaranteed Robinson
that Milosevic did only act within the limits of his office. He said that
Milosevic could not exceed his authority even if he had wanted to.
Seselj explained that the JNA was commanded by the Yugoslav Presidency - not
by Slobodan Milosevic. He said that the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) was
commanded by Radovan Karadzic - not by Slobodan Milosevic. He said that
Serbia did not provide direct military assistance to the VRS - although
there was indirect assistance such as the payment of certain officers
salaries by the 30th personnel center. He said that the meager assistance
that Serbia gave the Bosnian-Serbs paled in comparison to the massive amount
of assistance that the Croats and the Muslims were receiving from the West
and the Islamic countries.
According to Seselj, and several previous witnesses, 70,000 Bosnian-Muslim
refugees came to Serbia during the war. The obvious question is why would
these people would come to Serbia if Serbia was behind a scheme to commit
genocide against them? Seselj also noted that there were several Muslim
members of the VRS; the same army that the prosecution says committed
genocide against Muslims.
Seselj denied that the VRS or the Republika Srpska leadership had or carried
out a policy of ethnic cleansing. To bear this point out Milosevic read
passages from orders issued to the VRS by Radovan Karadzic. These orders
explicitly forbade any act that could constitute ethnic cleansing.
Seselj pointed out that hundreds of Serbs had been killed by Muslims during
the months before the war began in Bosnia. In particular he mentioned the
massacres in Bosanski Broad and Kupres. Obviously the Serbs had something to
defend themselves from, and it is not unreasonable to assume that their war
objective was self-defense, rather than the expansion of Serbia's borders -
especially since it was the Muslims who started killing people first.
Seselj offered testimony about the events during the war in Vukovar. He said
that war operations began in Vukovar after the Croatian ZNG attacked the JNA
barracks there.
Regarding the killings at the Ovcara farm, Seselj said that the JNA was not
involved. He said that all of the killings were carried out by locals who
took people they believed to be Croatian war criminals out of the Vukovar
Hospital. He said that Gen. Aleksandar Vasiljevic should be questioned about
this event because he was in the area, but failed to report that the
killings had taken place. Seselj vehemently denied accusations that
volunteers from the Serbian Radical Party had been involved.
Seselj testified about Dubrovnik saying that the Croats fired at the JNA
from inside of the old city in an attempt to goad the JNA into attacking the
old city, which the JNA did not do.
Jovan Dulovic and Dejan Anastasijevic both testified as witnesses for the
prosecution and Seselj came to court today armed with information that
effected their credibility. Both of these witnesses had been newspaper
reporters and Dulovic had even testified at another trial in Belgrade.
Seselj had documented several discrepancies between the testimony that they
gave against Milosevic and what they had written in their newspaper reports
and what Dulovic had said during his testimony in Belgrade. Unfortunately,
the Trial Chamber refused to admit this material.
Seselj had been expected to complete his examination-in-chief today, but
things went slower than expected. Milosevic says that Seselj will likely
complete his examination-in-chief when the trial resumes next Monday
afternoon.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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